Sunday – Passenger Showcase

Last night’s Passenger ‘Showcase’ was surprisingly entertaining. I’ve seen more passenger shows that I care to remember, but this one was something a llittle bit different. They had a couple of songs from the choir (which was about 60 passengers strong – all crammed onto the stage, wobbling to the sway of the ship), a display of line dancing and ballroom dancing, and a couple of individual singers. One of the individual singers was an elderly Dutch lady, who announced that she would be singing a couple of short songs that she’d composed herself, from the trip. The songs were, indeed, very short, and her command of english was stretched, but… the thing that made her so endearing was her sense of humour (starting out by making the announcement, common to all the shows in the Show Lounge, that ‘no still photography or video is allowed during the performance… except by her husband’) .

The thing that made the show different from all the others I’ve seen was the fact that they combined the passengers acts with a few from the professional showteam, so it was a pleasing mixture of both (it was possibly a bit cruel to put the professional ballroom dancers on just before the passenger ballroom-ers, though). This ensured that the evening never lagged or became awkward; instead, the audience, who had come along in their droves (there was literally standing-room only as the Show Lounge was packed to the rafters), duly supported all the singers and dancers with rousing applause and raucous cheers. Quite an uplifting experience!

Today, I completed another Line and Wash painting of a boat and house, near Boca Do Valeria, and in my classes I taught Stone Walls and Sheep.

It’s Karaoke Night tonight, which I’m expecting to be popular, particularly if word has got around about how entertaining the last one was. We also lose another hour this evening, which will put us only one hour behind the UK. Because Karaoke won’t be starting until 11pm, that’s likely to make it a late night…